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Venice
The''' Venetians''' have the Power of the Sea. Suggestions and spoilers *Strengths: Good cavalry, archers, and navy; and strong economy *Weaknesses: Very costly Imperial Era unique units. There are two things Venice is well-known for: trade and naval forces. To start off, the cultural bonuses of Venice mean that it is capable of amassing untold wealth so long as its peasants remain productive. Every 100 units of resources in the Venetian treasure will generate 3% back per second. This means that for Venice, buying resources from the market can be a profitable venture, as once new resources are added to the stockpile, they will immediately triger a cumulative effect. This then filters back into another part of Venice's national bonuses: its navy. Not only can Venice spawn Dromonds (or if you have upgraded them, Barques) from newly built dockyards, but her signature unique units, the Heavy Galley and the Galleass, are medium heavy ships that can serve in a variety of roles - they are capable of bombarding warships as they are in reducing fortifications. In addition, Venetian warships are also cheaper, making it possible to amass a fleet very quickly, even in the Dark Age. As for land units, Venice can also summon up quite a number of units: toughened heavy cavalry, archers and spear militia all play a vital role in projecting Venetian might. Even so, Venice should not always splurge when it comes to its units, especially after the Imperial Era. Although its units by then would be very powerful, Venice's best units - the Galleass and the Elmetti - will be prohibitively costly to retrain and maintain. Venice, with its control of a fairly strong army and a powerful navy, is thus prepped to accomplish great feats. Because Venice, like Sicily, has access to the Byzantine Scholarii, it should be able to survive the early game using the Scholarii's tougher stats to survive head-on battles with cavalry, in particular those of Hungary. Once it reaches the Castle Age, it can begin fielding a substantial naval force using its vast resources and slowly assemble armies of Composite Bowmen, Spear Sergeants, and knights. Venice during the Castle Age is an expert at siege warfare, due to its possession of the Heavy Galley, which can fire ballista bolts outside of a Castle's immediate range, making it possible to take even heavily fortified islands. By the Imperial Era, a force consisting mostly of Troopers, Stradiots, Billmen, Arquebusiers and Pavise Arbalests, followed by a few Elmetti, should help clear away the entire opposition for you. Faction summary *Highly defensive specialist faction focused on naval supremacy and production of wealth. *She Ain't Heavy, She's My Galleass — Galleasses have the most powerful attacks and fastest firing rates, making them useful against all ships and land targets but they are slow. Use them wisely. *Dark Moon Rising — Venice is out there to take cities from the seas. Use war barges accompanied by fire boats and barques; heavy ships such as the lanternaswar cogs are not necessary; you only need a fast navy (preferably made of brigantines) to screen your heavy galleys. *Templo Mayor — As Venice receives added tax gains, tax research is vital for the health of the economy. *Mixed Nuts — Customise your army to suit your opponents' weakness. If someone relies on chivalric orders, train hashishin. If the enemy is big on slow-moving melée units, train archers. *Slow And Steady Can Still Win The Naval Race — Forward building docks is a must given how slow galleasses are, but it is well worth it. *Premier League — Build a Marine Arsenal to keep your ships, especially your big galleasses, in working order. The Arsenal will help in constructing ships and keeping them alive. *Down The Line... — Timber is vital, especially if you are going to forward-build docks and heavy galleys. *Go for Gold — Do not neglect your taxation dues, trade and Universities: you need wealth and knowledge to create chivalric orders, archers and your unique units. *Up, Up and Away — Upgrade your units at moment's notice. Also note that with extra wealth, you can use wealth unsquandered in the Imperial Era filling up your universities to train naval gunpowder units, instead of archers and siege machines. *Byzantine Basket Case — Unfortunately, one problem with the siege ship line is that it is made of wood and can't survive an attack by Byzantine phogoboles. In any battle against Byzantium, protect your galleasses at all costs from phlogoboles. Burgundy with its ability to conjure fire boats out of thin air may be your best ally. Settlements: San Marco; Torcello; Cannaregio; Castello; Dorsoduro; San Polo; Santa Croce; Mestre; Dubrovnik; Schio; Fažana; Pula; Bassano del Grappa; Chioggia; Trogir; Rijeka; Lovran; Rabac; Murano; Labin; Medulin; Padua; Asiago; Brixia; Gorica; Trieste; Este; Zara; Split; Bergamo; Verona; Preko; Belluno; Treviso; Rovigo; Piran; Savudrija; Umag; Novigrad; Poreè; Vrsar; Rovinj Leaders: Agnello Partecipazio, Pietro Tradonico, Pietro II Orseolo, Enrico Dandolo, Pietro Gradenigo, Antonio Grimani, Giovanni Dandolo Best age(s): All, although the Imperial Era will pose problems if you are not prudent with money. History ::Salve invicta Juditha formosa Patriae splendor spes nostrae salutis Summae norma tu vere virtutis Eris semper in mundo gloriosa. Debellato sic barbaro Trace, Triumphatrix sit Maris Regina, Et placata sic ira divina: Adria vivat, et regnet in pace. ::— National anthem of Venice, "Salve invicta Juditha" by Antonio Vivaldi Venice's past stretches back well into classical history, but the modern city as we know it is far more recent. In Roman times, there were a group of Celtic tribes who settled the northern Adriatic coast of Italy, known to the Romans as the Venetii who would eventually be assimilated into mainstream Roman society as fully-fledged citizens, but it was not to be until the chaotic 6th century AD that the modern city and republic of Venice would fully emerge. Foundations When the Lombards invaded Italy in 568, one of the first cities in their path was Aquileia - a Christian town of long-standing importance, traditionally held to have been founded by St Mark. Many of its inhabitants, fleeing southwards, crossed the sea and settled on the isle of Torcello - the nucleus of the city of Venice. Almost twenty years later, in about 584, those parts of the east Italian coast still in Byzantine hands were organised together as the exarchate of Ravenna - a defensive arrangement against the Lombards. Despite this, Torcello was geographically separated from the Byzantine government at Ravenna, and so the survival of the community was by then largely in their own hands. They became increasingly independent, and in 726 for the first time elected a doge (the equivalent of 'duke', from the Latin dux meaning 'leader'). Disillusion with Byzantine rule over the maritime community grew, yet Byzantine domination of the Venetian lagoon continued until the exarchate of Ravenna was exterminated in 751. An opportunity arose for Venice with Pepin, the son of Charlemagne. The Doges skillfully not only played off the Franks and the Byzantines against one another, but even profitted from it too, leading to a Franco-Byzantine treaty in 814 that guaranteed autonomy for the city-state. As part of both worlds, east and west, perfectly placed between the Mediterranean and the mountain passes up through the Alps into northern Europe, Venice was now poised to make her fortune from trade. Venice expands Early in the 9th century, the doge transferred the seat of rule to two adjacent islands, where the land was a little higher above water level, though in Venice the distinction is a subtle one. To either side of the intervening waterway was a ''rivo alto ''('high bank'), from the which the name Rialto derives, on which the famous market now stands. The growing town however needed prestige, and so Saint Mark, the patron saint of Aquileia (in effect the parent city), was adopted as its patron saint, and the saint's relics arrived in the city in 828, reputedly smuggled in from Egypt. Whatever the actual means (theft of relics was common in the Middle Ages, but purchase could be equally possible), the arrival of the bones of Saint Mark soon led to the building of the first San Marco cathedral in Venice. The church, rebuilt in the 11th century and subsequently enlarged and altered, has been ever since the proud centrepiece of the city. Empire By the 11th century, Venice was making itself felt in the Adriatic. Expeditions sent out to deter raids by Saracen and Croat pirates soon led to the city-state placing garrisons in ports throughout Istria and Dalmatia, under the communal leadership of merchants and shipping magnates, after the same having blocked all attempts by some families (such as the houses of Partecipazio, Candiano and Orseolo) to establish hereditary rule in Venice. To keep the Alpine passes and the Straits of Otranto free from foreign influence (as any power which could dominate both ends would then have a stranglehold on the Venetian mercantile economy) Venetian influence expanded over the Balkans and Epirus in order to keep the Straits of Otranto free, and also joined the Lombard League in order to preserve the independence of the Italians and limit the power of the Holy Roman Emperor in Italy. The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204) would boost Venetian fortunes further: the empire now included parts of Greece and the entire eastern Adriatic coast, but this soon attracted the eye of its rivals: among one of these was Genoa, a new maritime republic that had recently thrown off the Imperial yoke and was now feeling its way around the Mediterranean. Rivalry with Genoa and other maritime republics soon culminated in a series of skirmishes and battles at sea. The gravest of these threats was the Chioggia War (1379-81). Venice's maritime empire came under attack from a coalition headed by Genoa, Padua and Aquileia, with Austrian and Hungarian assistance. Eventually, Venice would win the war, and expanded into Lombardy itself, but this would put it at loggerheads with the Papal States, Milan, Tuscany and eventually France. Decline Three events would eventually destroy Venetian hegemony in Europe. The discovery of the New World and the new overseas empires in Asia and Africa would destroy Venice's economy, while the Italian Wars of the 16th century would eventually destroy its empire in Italy, while the eastern protectorates would be overrun by the Ottomans. The republic would nevertheless retain some semblance of its economic status during the Early Industrial Era, until it was annexed by Napoleon in 1796. Venice would then be passed over to the Austrians after Napoleon, before being annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. pt:Veneza References *Historyworld; History of Venice *Metropolitan Museum of Art; Venice and the Mamluks *Venezia.net; The History of Venice Category:Factions Category:Spoiler Category:Catholics